"The Best Best Podcast in Korea"

Hello subscribers and fans. Are there any of you left? This is the most recently recorded episode of Café Seoul Podcast. It was recorded in the summer of 2017. It’s now spring 2019 and there’s a reason why there’s been such a huge delay in getting this epsiode out.

Of course, procrastination is one of them, but after this episode Eugene uprooted his family and left Korea.

Not the actual route Eugene took to return.

I also didn’t want to work on the episode because honestly I am a soft guy and it made me sad that this very well could be the last one. I wanted to make it believable that this thing could still keep going, but things being how they are, raising a kid, getting established and right with all the various agencies, doing a job search, preparing for interviews, then focusing on work have pushed this episode to the back burner.

So why now? Because in the summer of 2017, Game of Thrones season 7 had just ended and we spent a lengthy part of this episode talking about what we hope to see in season 8. Season 8 is now less than two days away, and I have to get it out before that, even though most people listening may be doing that well after the whole series ended.

So you can thank Arya Stark for getting my butt in gear and making me finish this finally.

So without further ado, here are the various segments for this, the final episode of Café Seoul’s 5th season.

Review of Game of Thrones – Most satisfying deaths, predictions, retrospective of the series so far, etc etc. It wouldn’t be Café Seoul without nerding it up.

The Best Goodbyes – Rob finds goodbyes from books, movies, songs and other forms of pop culture. Eugene has to guess where they come from.

Exit Interview – Rob and Eugene reflect on the past 10 years in Korea. Rob asks Eugene to make top three lists on various expat in Korea related topics while introducing some of his own. Rob also reads a sad sappy (heartfelt) letter to inflate Eugene’s ego (but really really appreciated).

A candid photo, taken in the spring of 2017, when both Eugene and Rob knew the end was near. Note the nervous expressions.

Café Seoul may be finished for the time being, but we do have plans to put out reunion episodes every now and then, so don’t unsubscribe! You may find more material pop up by surprise!

I am guessing that subscribers are getting tired of me apologizing for taking so long to edit. There’s been a lot going on since these episodes were recorded. A lot. If you don’t already know, then you can find out about it in the next episode. At any rate, I won’t be apologizing for the lateness to you subscribers for this episode, but I WILL apologize to our guest, Fatimaah-Joso Menefee. After our blackface episode (episode 3 of this season) aired, she took it upon herself to send us a critical email, where she was very appreciative that we decided to speak on the subject, but pointed out areas we were lacking in knowledge. This led to a back and forth email discussion, and we decided to invite her on the show.

But naturally, because of scheduling issues, it was not to be. She did however record her voice for us and we made a mini-episode about that.

From the program for the Busan International Comedy Festival. Picture Shamelessly Stolen from Brothas&Sistas of South Korea Facebook Group.

Also in this episode at the end, I mentioned that the Facebook group Brothas&Sistas of South Korea protested an event in Busan that was featuring blackface skits, and were successful on having the blackface removed. The exact details were unknown at the time of recording, but here is a link to the post which details exactly what occurred.

On the Pulse: Discussion with Hyunsoo Kim regarding what it is like to be LGBTQ in Korea in comparison to other places she has lived. Many people who have lived in Korea for a long time have heard someone tell them that there are no gays in Korea. This is how dire the situation was… recently, but things are changing. But even though Korea is the bbali bbali country, this change can’t be fast enough, because Korea is still lagging socially on rights for sexual minorities. Outside of Korea it may not be such a big deal these days to be out… but within Korea, Hyunsoo says that very few people are really totally out to everyone.

Coming out isn’t easy, nor is being closeted. Many people need support for whatever situation they may be dealing with. During our podcast recording, Hyunsoo recommended Ddingddong, a Korean youth crisis center as a resource for people who may need someone to talk to.

After a long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long period of being very very very very very busy, Eugene has actually finally found time to edit this episode. Rydia is back and our subject today is plastic surgery.

This picture has been circulating the net for quite a while. It shows the contestants for Miss Korea 2013. Some people say they all have the same face. What do you think?

But rather than criticize all the people in Korea getting it, we are discussing why Rydia made the decision to get it in the first place.

During the initial banter of this episode we got some letters from Dave and from Kathleen. Dave’s letter sparked a discussion on Western remakes of Asian films. Kathleen’s letter caused us to discuss foreigner privilege in Korean settings.

Rydia Kim was once a co-host on Café Seoul, and she’s returned to discuss plastic surgery in Korea. As someone who recently got a procedure or two herself, she’s here to elaborate on her decision to get plastic surgery, and how her initial aversion to the practice was overcome. She also goes in detail about how the procedures have helped her to be confident and how it is important to have a positive body image. Later Rob and Rydia discuss why plastic surgery is such a trend in Korea, and how body alterations work in the context of Korea’s modern culture.

Well what can we say we couldn’t resist. Yes, we are supposed to be a Korea related podcast but sometimes you just have to live a little and invite your nerdy friends to talk about super heroes. Given the overwhelming praise and high regard of the Wonder Woman Spectacular (by us recording it) in episode 6, we decided, what they hey… while we may in fact have great power due to this podcast, we don’t necessarily have great responsibility to anyone other than our own nerdy whims. So friends, we give you the Spiderman Spider-Man Homecoming Special episode. AND YES! IT’S SPIDER-MAN with a HYPHEN! It annoys Eugene to no end than people keep misspelling it, and this has of course become a running gag in Café Seoul history that Rob likes to tease him incessantly for. But whatever, you’re here to LISTEN to Café-Seoul, not worry about the silly details of behind the scenes running gags.

Teen Hero Popularity Contest – Similarly to what we did in the Wonder Woman episode, we talk about some of our favorite teen characters from movies and TV (and books), then make them face off against each other in a 1:1 battle royale to find out which one would hypothetically kick the ass of the others.

Spider-Man Orientation – Discussion of the Spider-Man character, and how we came to know him, as well as some of our favorite storylines, and ranking the movies he’s appeared in so far.

Spider-Man Homecoming – In depth discussion of the most recent film, Spider-Man Homecoming.

Special thanks to Emma Kalka for stalking us and using the dark side of the force to trick us into inviting her to appear in this episode.
Here’s the link to the film about Rufio as mentioned in the show.

Café Seoul is back! Korea’s traditional culture is the topic of this episode, and we have one of the most knowledgable academics on hand to discuss the role that traditional culture, specifically performance art plays in modern Korean society.

Dr. Saeji moved to the Republic of Korea in 1996. Saeji has since spent more than fifteen years in Korea, where she completed an MA in Korean Studies (Yonsei University, 2006). Outside of Korea she has spent time elsewhere in Asia and completed the coursework for her PhD in Culture and Performance (UCLA, 2012). She currently teaches a course called Korea Popular Music in Context at the University of British Columbia.

How relevant to modern Korean society is Korean traditional culture? Many people who observe Korea suggest that Korea’s traditional culture is somewhat removed from its modern one, but is that really the case? In this episode we have the benefit of an academic expert to delve into this topic and find out exactly what role traditional culture, specifically performance art plays in Korea today. In addition to the overlying theme, we discuss some initial access points for Korean traditional culture and how one can go about learning more about and enjoying the rich traditional culture Korea possesses.

On the Pulse: Korea has a suicide problem, and we’ve invited Shaun Webb on the podcast to discuss his own attempted suicide and to discuss the very serious situation in Korea. Topics include the societal causes of the suicide epidemic, efforts the government has made for suicide prevention and how effective they are, and several suicide prevention resources.
Here are some useful links for anyone who might need them: